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Ælis
Preliminary Remarks While this article page is being updated, feel free to read the full PDF document on the principles of the language by downloading it here. Ideology hAnWnArAsAiA2tE (Welcome!)''k1lISK Ælis is a constructed ''a priori language with a very particular approach on grammar. As such, it might be very interesting for aficionados of theoretical linguistics to use Ælis as a tool to start philosophizing about and exploring the boundaries of human grammar. Ælis has no nouns, adjectives, verbs or adverbs in a grammatical sense; verb conjugations, inflections, declensions, tenses, moods or voices; (hardly any) stress in words which is relevant; no tones, no fixed word order, (hardly any) punctuation, and no spaces to divide words or sentences from one another. Nonetheless, Ælis has a solid, very consistent and unambiguous grammar. The entire language is built on a few hundred root words. These roots are not fusional but independent, which means that every root is always a morpheme and always has the same meaning. They do not depend on the words to which they are attached. Apart from the philosophical aspect, the language aims to be an artlang, aesthetically appealing both to the ear and the eye; as well as an auxlang, equally easy to learn for speakers with a variety of native backgrounds. Alphabet and Writing Phonemes The table below contains all the phonemes that the Ælis language features (IPA). Bold-faced phonemes represent the preferred pronunciation, phonemes in brackets are allowed variations that will not cause ambiguity. Alphabet and syllabic writing The alphabet has 21 letters, of which 6 vowels and 15 consonants. Technically, aɛ is a diphthong, but it is regarded as a common vowel. All written letters should always be pronounced and vice-versa. The table below follows the Ælis alphabetical order. Letters in bold are those where the Romanisation differs from the actual IPA phonemic symbols. The two bottom rows of this table represent the so called primary '' and ''secondary case. Ælis is written in an alternation of these two cases in order for the different root words to be visually distinguishable. The writing style follows this pattern: the first phoneme of every root word is written in the primary case, every other letter is written in the secondary case. The characters were designed to fit this pattern. Compare the following clusters: *aM = am ---- eN = en ---- iR = ir *mA = ma ---- nE = ne ---- rI = ri In Ælis, every root is at the same time a morpheme and a syllable. Root words can have either two or three phonemes/letters, for which only certain patterns are admissible: Two letter root words: #CV: tW tæ (colour) #VC: aR ar (reason, causality) #VV: uA ua (centre, half) Three letter root words: #CVC: lIS lis (concept, notion) #CVV: gOE goe (water) Exceptions to these patterns are given names, possible borrowed words and number concepts (which will be covered below). Punctuation and the name tag Ælis has a full stop (.) and a comma (,), but these are used only very sporadically. There is not even an obligation to use these punctuation marks at all. There is, however, a set of two fairly important symbols which are used as a name tag: the rea. These two (mirrored) symbols enclose any type of proper name or borrowed word in order to mark it as such. The rea may be literally pronounced. E.g.: *eG1lIS egælis = peaceful language; *eG k 1lIS K egrea'ælis = the language (that is named) Peace. (=Ælis) By itself, rea (rEA) is a root word which means "name": iA1mAhArEAkfREDERIQK > My name is Frederic. Morphology Morphological word structure Words are constructed with one simple but fundamental guideline: the head of the root word cluster has a nominal value; the tail of the root word cluster is dependent, adjectival or adverbial. An example: tE te means 'human/person'. uBlE uble means 'strong'. *tEuBlE te>uble means 'a strong person' *uBlEtE uble>te means 'human strength' An interesting and possibly unique feature of the Ælis root word approach is that semantically related words are nearto always lexically similar. The following words are lexically related, which in correlation means that they have a certain amount of root words in common: tEnAlE tenale > person>quality>much; a good person --> friend tEnAiO tenaio > person>quality>little; a bad person --> an enemy iItEnAlE iitenale > target>person>quality>much; to target (being) a good person --> to become friends with lItEnAlE litenale > origin>person>quality>much; to come from (being) a good person --> to stop being friends with etc. Number concepts Along with the 21 common letters of the alphabet, Ælis uses a set of ten additional symbols called number concepts. They could be considered to be digits or ciphers, but they only appear within certain words. The number concepts all have a numeric value: Number concepts appear in words where the notion of the respective number is somehow present in the word. There is a number concept to be found in the very name of the language: 1lIS consists of 1 (1) and lIS (concept, idea), the concept of one meaning as much as 'peace' or 'harmony', or of course 'unity'. Counting The number concepts are very abstract and are therefore not the same as cardinal numbers. However, the number concepts are used to create them. The Ælis counting system could technically be called bi-quinary (5x2), although probably decimal is easier and also accurate. The numbers from 0 to 9 are formed by prefixing a number concept to the number morpheme qA qa. Accordingly, the first ten numbers are: For all positive numbers 10 and up, multiple number concepts are combined as if they were digits. E.g.: To distinguish positive from negative numbers, the root word clusters qElE qe-le and qEiO qe-io can be suffixed, which are to be interpreted as meaning positive addition and negative addition, respectively. Therefore: *1qAqElE = +1 *2qAqElE = +2 *1qAqEiO = -1 *2qAqEiO = -2 The root word qa always dilineates different numbers. For instance, while 12qA æ'eqa is the number 12, a formulation like 1qA2qA æqa'eqa could be used for enumerating lottery numbers, for the results of a sports game, etc. Personal pronouns Another aspect where the number concepts play an important role is in personal pronouns. These exist in 6 grammatical persons and three genders. The genders are purely semantical, so they don't govern the declension of nouns or the like. The undefined pronouns are not to be confused with the neuter grammatical gender. They are used if a speaker is either unaware of the gender, doesn't wish to specify, or, in plurals, for referring to a group where both sexes are present. Furthermore, the personal pronouns are only used for arguments that can be interpreted as having a character: people, or sometimes animals, anthropomorphized objects (in literature), ect. Category:Languages Qualifiers Qualifiers are a set of five roots used as suffixes to nearly any other morpheme which express a certain amount, degree or quality of something. Qualifiers are essential building stones of the Ælis morphology. There are five levels: sI (nothing) - iO (little) - uA (moderate/middle/half) - lE (much) - rA (all) One of the previously presented roots is na, which means quality. By itself, the root has no connotation. A qualifier has to be suffixed to add a 'level' of quality: *nAsI nasi: no quality --> worthless *nAiO naio: little quality --> bad *nAuA naua: moderate quality --> neutral *nAle nale: a lot of quality --> good *nArA nara: all/total quality --> perfect Another previously presented word was uble, 'strong'. This too is a combination of the root ub, 'a (degree of) strength', with a qualifier suffix. According to the pattern, the qualifiers create the following words: *uBsI ubsi: no strength --> powerless *uBiO ubio: little strength --> weak *uBuA ubua: moderate strength --> moderately strong *uBle uble: a lot of strength --> strong *uBrA ubra: all/total strength --> very strong, allmighty A very big part of the vocabulary relies on the use of qualifiers. Pluralization The topic of pluralization is peculiar, as it differs from the 'traditional' singular/plural pattern. Ælis, root words are principally ambiguous as long as they're not specified. For instance, 'te' can mean both 'person', 'people', and 'human'; 'ma' can mean both 'man', 'men', 'manly', 'manliness', etc. E.g.: lAmAhAaNdAuA ha'andaua : > There is a man here : > There are men here : > There is male presence here By adding the root qA qa, with either a number concept or one of the qualifiers, these roots transform into precise (countable) and imprecise (non-countable) amounts, respectively. Compare: *1qAmA æqama (one man) *2qAmA eqama (two men) ... *qAiOmA qaioma (a few men) *qAlEmA qalema (many men) *qArAmA qarama (all men) :etc. Moreover, qa can be combined with a number concept and a qualifier at the same time, by which both nuances will be incorporated: *lA9qAiOmAhAaNdAuA ha'andaua (nine men (not much) are here) --> There are only nine men here. Topicalization To cover for the facts that there are no word classes; that the word order is free; and that there are no spaces to divide words and sentences, Ælis places a very big emphasis on the semantical functions that different words have within a sentence. There is a high rate of 'topicalisation', or function marking, which means that each word has one or more root words prefixed to them to point out their semantical function in the sentence. There are 8 functions in Ælis, which are divided into three categories. It is noteworthy that none of these semantical functions must be obligatorily present in a sentence for it to be grammatically correct (unlike is often the case with grammatical functions S-V-O), nor is any of the functions restricted to only one use per sentence. Primary functions Primary functions divide sentences into the equivalent of constituents (noun phrase, verb phrase, adverbial phrase, etc.). Since Ælis doesn't use spaces, the primary functions serve as a means of delineating different words within a sentence. There are 4 primary functions. ''Topic'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: hA ha. The topic describes an action or state. In full sentences, it will often be translated with a verb, though the topic itself has no form of conjugation, tense or mood. The topic is always essive, which means that it should be interpreted as a noun phrase that starts with 'there is', 'there are'. E.g.: hAdOE hadoe :(TOP'fire') :=> to burn / there is (a) fire. ''Patient'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: iA ia. The patient is the syntactical object that is affected by the topic. It has no active participation in the process expressed by the topic. It will generally translate to an (in)direct object or prepositional object whenever the topic expresses an action, or the subject if the topic describes a (passive) state. E.g.: iAaNoWsIhAdOE hadoe :(PAT'house' TOP'fire') :=> the house burns / the house is on fire. ''Agent'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: lA la. The agent is the syntactical object that initiates the topic. The appearance of an agent can turn a sentence into a (transitive) action. E.g.: lA1mAiAaNoWsIhAdOE ia'anoæsi hadoe :(AG'me' PAT'house' TOP'fire') :=> I set fire to the house. ''Modifier'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: iR ir. A modifier adds information to a sentence which cannot be covered by one of the previous functions. Generally, the modifier corresponds to a variety of adverbial constituents: time, place, manner, cause, etc. Modifiers also harbour the key to expressing time tenses. E.g.: iRaSdAlElA1mAiAaNoWsIhAdOE laæma ia'anoæsi hadoe :(MOD'future' AG'me' PAT'house' TOP'fire') :=> I will set fire to the house. Subordinate functions Subordinate functions are functions that can only appear in combination with one of the primary functions. Thus, they are strongly tied to one specific argument of the sentence. ''Characteristic'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: eM em. A characteristic gives you additional information of a specific syntactical argument. The information is always considered to be either inherent to the respective argument, or of predictable nature. It will mostly translate to an adjectival description of age, size, shape, colour, etc. E.g.: iRaSdAlElA1mAiAaNoWsIiAeMvErAhAdOE laæma ia'anoæsi iaemvera hadoe :(MOD'future' AG'me' PAT'house' PAT-CHAR'preciousness' TOP'fire') :=> I will set fire to the precious house. ''Referent'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: vW væ. The referent is a syntactical element that places an argument in a semantical relation to something else. The referent may therefore correspond to the use of a comparative or superlative structure (e.g.: I am bigger than you), to a relative indication in time or space (e.g.: in front of me), but also simply to a possessive pronoun. The referent can be analytically translated as a relative clause that starts with "when compared to...": when compared to you, I am big / when compared to me, in the front. E.g.: iRaSdAlElA1mAiAaNoWsIiAeMvErAiAvW2mAhAdOE laæma ia'anoæsi iaemvera iavæema hadoe :(MOD'future' AG'me' PAT'house' PAT-CHAR'preciousness' PAT-REF'you' TOP'fire') :=> I will set fire to that precious house of yours. Free functions The free functions are functions that do not take part in the hieratic relationship that the primary and subordinate functions have to each other. ''Sentence bracket'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: lW læ + iW iæ. The sentence bracket is a set of two morphemes that allow subordinate clauses to be constructed within the main clause. The opening bracket 'læ' is comparable to the relative pronouns 'that' and 'which', and the closing bracket 'iæ' is used to mark the end of the subclause. The entire sentence bracket will be subordinate to the root word to which it is suffixed, and will probably in turn feature primary and subordinate functions itself. E.g.: iRaSdAlElA1mAiAaNoWsIiAeMvErAiAvW2mAiAemlWlA2mAhAeLeAnArAiWhAdOE laæma ia'anoæsi iaemvera iavæ'ema iaemlæla'ema haeleanaraiæ hadoe In this sentence, the subordinate clause translates to you love. The bracket links to a characteristic, which in turn is linked to the patient of the main clause (the house). Hence the formulation iAeMlW ia-em-læ. :(MOD'future' AG'me' PAT'house' PAT-CHAR'preciousness' PAT-CHAR-BRACKET.OPEN(AG'you' TOP'much-love' BRACKET.CLOSE) TOP'fire') : > I will set fire to the precious house of yours that you care for so deeply. ''Sentence breaker'' :→ Corresponding morpheme: tA ta. The sentence breaker is a morpheme placed in between two sentences or phrases to separate them from one another. Without the sentence breaker, arguments with the same function are considered to be enumerations. E.g.: lA1mAhAeNlAksEMKhAeR haen laSem haer (AG me TOP'vision' AG'Sam' TOP'hearing') :=> Sam and I are looking and listening. lA1mAhAeNtAlAksEMKhAeR haen ta laSem haer (AG me TOP'vision' (sent.br.) AG'Sam' TOP'hearing') :=> I am looking and Sam is listening. Conciseness Since this function marking construction pattern tends to create very large sentences, discourse aims to be as concise as possible. As long as the conversation covers the same subject, a lot of words can be omitted without losing information. An example: :Person A: iRaSdAiOlA1mAiAaNoWsIiAvW2tE :(MOD'past' AG'me' PAT'house' PAT-REF'you') : > "I did something to your house." :Person B: hAnE :(TOP'question') : > "What (did you do to it)?" :Person A: hAdOE :(TOP'fire') : > "I set fire to it." Note that the last reply (hadoe) is the exact same formulation as the first example sentence which meant "There is a fire". Only now, the implied meaning is completely altered by the context. There are some cases where the function markers themselves can be omitted completely. This is the case with common and short formulations such as 'thanks' or 'you're welcome', as such utterances are generally unambiguous. For example: while the sentence hAgIrAlA1tEiA2tE laæte iaete (for you there is total gratitude on my behalf) would be the formal way of thanking someone, colloquial speech will generally abbreviate this to simply gIlE gile (a lot of gratitude) or gIrA gira (total gratitude). Similar expressions without function markers include: *hInArA hinara or nArA nara (Hello/Goodbye) *nWnE næne (What's up?) *dIrA dira (You're welcome) *iSnE isne (What's next?) *rEAnE reane (What's (your) name?) *kmERIK rea'meri ((My name is) Mary) *... Vocabulary Please follow the link to the /Root word list and vocabulary/ page. Example text: The Lord's Prayer Ælis lA2tEhAtEuE2dAlE lAeMaNeAnArAtA hAnArAiArEAiAvW2tEtA iRaMdIlEhA1lISiRiIaNuAtA iRaNlWlA2tEhAdIiWhAaSdArAtA iRaNtEiRaNEAnArAtA iRaMdIlEiA6tEiRaSqArAdOhAqAnAlEtA hAiInAlEiAlWhAnAiOlA6tEiWlA2tEtA iAlWhAnAiOiA6tEiWlA6tEtA iA6tEhAaQrAhAvWqArAeInAiO hAvWqArAnAiOtA iRaMdIlE. Romanised la'ete hateue'edale la'emaneanarata hanara iarea iavæ'eteta iramdile ha'ælis iriianuata iranlæ la'ete hadiiæ ha'asdarata irante iraneanarata iramdile iauæte irasqarado haqanaleta haiinale ialæ hanaio lauæteiæ la'eteta ialæ hanaioiauæteiæ lauæteta iauæte ha'aqra havæqaraeinaio havæqaranaiota iramdile. Analytic translation You are the father - (you) at the abstract place of perfection - the best to the name that is yours - by will, peace and eternity be in this place and at the place where you exert will - on the place of people - on the abstract place of perfection - by will, the good befall us every day - you restore that what we do bad - that what has been done bad to us, we restore - for us the biggest possible distance from improper thoughts - and from bad things (in general) - by will. Writing Ælis on the computer If you're interested in writing Ælis in your own text editor, you can download the ttf font and the corresponding kerning table. The keyboard keys have been assigned as follows: *Lowercase letters correspond to the primary case; *Uppercase letters correspond to the secondary case; *Number concept symbols have been assigned to the numbers from 0 to 9; *The letter æ has been assigned to the w-key. Lowercase 'w' for the primary case w and uppercase 'W' for the secondary case W; *The rea symbols have been assigned to the k-key. Lowercase 'k' for the opening rea k and uppercase 'K' for the closing rea K. Category:Languages